Annual Report Submission Requirements for Electric, Gas, Water, Sewer, and Steam Heating Utilities

PURPOSE: Section 393.140(6), RSMo, includes an obligation for the commission to require every person and corporation under its su pervision to submit an annual report to the commission. This rule establishes the standards for the submission of annual reports by electric, gas, water, sewer, and steam heating utilities that are sub ject to the jurisdiction of the commission, including the procedures for submitting nonpublic annual report information. (1) All electric, gas, water, sewer, and steam heating utilities shall submit an annual report to the commission on or before April 15 of each year, except as otherwise provided for in this rule. (2) Annual reports shall be submitted either on a form provided by the commission or on a computer-generated replica that is acceptable to the commission. Reports being submitted on paper are to be prepared in looseleaf format and sent to the attention of the secretary of the commission. Computer-gen erated reports can be submitted through the commission’s electronic filing and information system (EFIS). Attempts to substitute forms such as stockholder reports without con currently submitting official commission forms with appro priate cross-references will be considered noncompliant. All requested information shall be included in the annual report, where applicable, even if it has been provided in a previous annual report. (3) A utility that receives a notice from the commission stating that deficiencies exist in the information provided in the an nual report shall respond to that notice within twenty (20) days after the date of the notice, and shall provide the information requested in the notice in its response. (4) If a utility subject to this rule considers the information requested on the annual report form to be nonpublic informa tion, it must submit both a fully completed version to be kept under seal and a redacted public version that clearly informs the reader that the redacted information has been submitted as nonpublic information to be kept under seal. Submittals made under this section that do not include both versions will be considered deficient. The staff on behalf of the commission will issue a deficiency letter to the company and if both ver sions of the annual report are not received within twenty (20) days of the notice, the submittal will be considered noncompli ant. In addition to the foregoing, submittals made under this section must meet the following requirements: (A) A cover letter stating that the utility is designating some or all of the information in its annual report as confidential in formation, and including the name, phone number, and e-mail address (if available) of the person responsible for addressing questions regarding the confidential portions of the annual report, must be submitted with the reports; (B) The cover of each version of the report must clearly iden tify whether it is the public or nonpublic version; (C) A detailed affidavit that identifies the specific types of information to be kept under seal, provides a reason why the specific information should be kept under seal and states that none of the information to be kept under seal is available to the public in any format must be prominently attached to both versions of the report; and (D) Each page of each version of the report that contains nonpublic information shall be clearly identified as containing such information. (5) If an entity asserts that any of the information contained in the nonpublic version of the annual report should be made available to the public, then that entity must file a pleading with the commission requesting an order to make the infor mation available to the public, and shall serve a copy of the pleading on the utility affected by the request. The pleading must explain how the public interest is better served by disclo sure of the information than the reason provided by the utility justifying why the information should be kept under seal. The utility affected by the request may file a response to a pleading filed under these provisions within fifteen (15) days after the filing of such a pleading. (6) A utility subject to this rule that is unable to meet the sub mission date established in section (1) of this rule may obtain an extension of up to thirty (30) days for submitting its annual report by— (A) Submitting a written request, which states the reason for the extension, to the attention of the secretary of the commis sion prior to April 15; and (B) Certifying that a copy of the written request was sent to all parties of record in pending cases before the commission where the utility’s activities are the primary focus of the pro ceedings. (7) A utility subject to this rule that is unable to meet the sub mission date established in section (1) of this rule may request an extension of greater than thirty (30) days for submitting its annual report by— (A) Filing a pleading, in compliance with the requirements of Chapter 2 of 4 CSR 240-2, which states the reason for and the length of the extension being requested, with the commission prior to April 15; and (B) Certifying that a copy of the pleading was sent to all par ties of record in pending cases before the commission where the utility’s activities are the primary focus of the proceedings. (8) Responses to deficiency notices under the provisions of sec tion (3) of this rule, requests for confidential treatment under the provisions of section (4) of this rule, pleadings requesting public disclosure of information contained under seal under the provisions of section (5) of this rule, and requests for exten sions of time under the provisions of sections (6) or (7) of this rule may be submitted through the commission’s electronic filing and information system (EFIS). (9) A utility subject to this rule that does not timely file its an nual report, or its response to a notice that its annual report is deficient, is subject to a penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) and an additional penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) for each day that it is late in filing its annual report or its response to a notice of deficiency. AUTHORITY: sections 386.250 and 393.140, RSMo 2016.* This rule originally filed as 4 CSR 240-10.145. Original rule filed June 14, 2018, effective Jan. 30, 2019. Moved to 20 CSR 4240-10.145, effective Aug. 28, 2019. *Original authority: 386.250, RSMo 1939, amended 1963, 1967, 1977, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996 and 393.140, RSMo 1939, amended 1949, 1967.